Safety cap



March 2?, 1956 BULLARD Y 25139311 SAFETY CAP Filed July 5, 1952//\/VE/\/7 O/ EDWARD WHEATLEV BULL/4RD his ATTORNEY SAFETY CAP EdwardWheatley Bollard, Mill Valley, Callf., assignor to E. D. BullardCompany, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of California ApplicationJuly 5, 1952, Serial No. 297,202

2 Claims. (Cl. 23)

My invention relates to rigid crown safety hats and caps; andparticularly to a rigid crown miners safety cap.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision in a rigid crown hator cap of an .integral structure constituting a rigid beam extendinglongitudinally of the crown for increasing its resistance to crushing asthe result of blows received from above or from the side.

Another object is the provision of such a strengthening beam which alsofunctions as a freeway or conduit for holding and protecting theelectrical conductor by which a lamp carried on the cap may be suppliedwith current.

My invention possesses other objects, some of which with the foregoingwill be brought out .in the following description of the invention; I donot limit myself to the showing made by the said description anddrawings since I may adopt variant forms of the invention within thescope of the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invented structure as applied to aminers cap.

Figure 2 is a plan view; and

Figure 3 is a fragmental view of the cap crown, a portion of which isbroken away to show a vertical section.

In the mining industry, one of the most important pieces of safetyequipment for preventing injury to the head, is the miner's safety'cap.Since the miner generally works below ground level, he is frequentlyexposed to injury by rock fragments falling from the ceiling, orimpelled by blast.

It is therefore essential to the miners protection that his headgearshall be capable of withstanding severe stresses applied from above aswell as from the side.

Another hazard quite distinct from that of falling or flying fragments,and one to which the miner is peculiarly subject because much of hiswork is in semi-darkness and in close quarters, are accidents to hislamp which is customarily mounted on the front portion of his cap. Inrecent years, these lamps have usually been electric; and are suppliedby feed wires extending to a battery carried on the miners back.Entanglement of these feed wires with projecting or low hangingformations or mine structure may extinguish the light. or knock off thecap, or result in direct injury to the head or neck of the miner. Ittherefore becomes important to so arrange the feed wires as to escapeaccidental contact with structure or objects which may be in closeproximity to the miner's head.

Both of these prime requisites for the miners safety are supplied in mycap construction; and this is accomplished by incorporating into therigid cap structure a rigid curved beam integral with the upper portionof the crown, and extending from front to rear thereof; and also ahorseshoe-shaped beam integral with the lower portion of the crown andwith its ends merging into the visoror bill of the cap at each side.Both beams in cross section are U-shaped or of rounded channelformation;

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and both open upwardly. A very large increase in strength and resistanceto deformation or crushing by blows coming from any direction isprovided by these integrally formed curved and rigid beams; and each ofthem also has an additional or secondary function. The beam across thetop of the crown provides a freeway or conduit inwhich the feed wires,from thelamp to the back of the crown, may lie secure. The horseshoebeam catches water and condensation collecting on the hat and conductsit as in a gutter onto the brim from which it falls free.

Broadly considered then, the safety hat of my invention as embodied in aminers cap comprises a rigid crown in which is integrally formed agroove extending in a median line longitudinally across the top of thecrown.

This grooved structure constitutes a slightly curved beam integral withthe crown, which greatly increases the resistance of the crown tocrushing stresses applied from any direction but particularly applied byfalling objects. This groove provides means for receiving and holdingthe feed wires of the miners lamp.

The cap is also provided adjacent the lower edge of a the crown with anoutwardly and upwardly curved flange, also constituting a beam forresistingdeformation of the crown, especially from laterally directedblows. The

flange merges with the visor at one end of the cap and.

because of its shape also acts as a gutter for catching water anddirecting it from the back and sides of the cap to the visor from whichit drains forwardly instead of upon the neck and'shoulders of thewearer.

Referring to the drawings, my safety cap is formed- I by molding athermosetting resin heavily reinforced with a mass of interlaced glassfibers. It comprises a rigid crown body 2 having at its front oranterior end an uprightflat anterior wall portion 3, to which is securedthe customary lamp bracket 4, for the mounting of an electric lamp 6.

The top wall 7 of the crown body is molded with a groove 8 which extendslongitudinally in the median line of the crown, merging, into theanterior wall at the forward end, and into the posterior portion'9 ofthe crown at the other end. The rigid grooved structure, integral withand conforming to the curve of the crown body includes the side walls 12and 13, and bottom wall 14.

It will be understood that the structurejust described acts as aslightly convex channel beam in resisting the force of blows on thecrown directed downwardly. The

obtains from-the front end of the beam where it joins the anterior wallto its rear end where it merges into the posterior crown wall.

A secondary function of the beam is to provide a freeway or conduit inwhichis secured the cable 16, holding the feed wires between the lampand the battery pack 17, usually carried by the workman on a belt at hisback.

As will be seen in Figure l, the groove provided in the crown is of suchsize and proportions as to cradle the cable for the entire length of thecap, thus substantially eliminating the possibility of the cable beingsnagged or accidentally displaced. To secure the cable to the crown bodyand within the groove, a strap 18 is fixed at one end to the posteriorportion of the crown by a rivet 19. ,The strap is provided at itsfreeend with a snap fastener 21, adapted to engage a complementaryfastener fixed on the crown.

To resist laterally directed blows, the lower edge of the crown body isalso provided with a rigid channel beam 22. This second beam is alsoformed integrally with the crown body and comprises an outwardly anduphas front corner portions, see Fig. l, which are lower than thecentral portion thereof and permit water from the anterior ends 26 and27 of the channel beam 22 to drain off of the visor.

In addition to serving as a strengthening beam about the crown, thechannel beam 22 acts as a gutter for catching moisture which accumulateson the crown, directing it toward and otf of the visor in a directionaway from the body.

In order to position the cap comfortably on the head, it is providedwith the conventional or any desired suspension means, including asweatband 31, a portion of which is shown in Figure l. 1

Iclaim:

l. A safety hat comprising an integrally formed rigid crown body havinga flat upright anterior wall, a bracket on said anterior wall formounting a lamp, said crown having a groove extending over its top in amedian line from said anterior wall to the posterior portion of the'crown', said grooved portion constituting a rigid channel beam and alsoforming a freeway for feed wires to the lamp on said lamp bracket, alamp detachably mounted on the bracket, feed wires for the lamp disposedin said channel, and releasable means for securing to the crown body thefeed wires in said channel.

2. A safety hat comprising a rigid crown body having a groove extendinglongitudinally across the top of the crown. the top of said crown alongits axis from anterior to posterior extending in a gradual arcuatecurve, said grooved top constituting a channel beam to resist crushingfrom downwardly directed blows, the lower edge of the crown beingextended outwardly in substantially the same plane and upwardlytherefrom to constitute a relatively narrow channel beam extendingcontinuously around the side and posterior lower edges of the crown toresist crushing from laterally directed blows to catch and conductmoisture from the crown toward the anterior portion of the crown, and adownwardly directed visor on the anterior lower edge of the crownmerging into the anterior ends of the last named beam, said visor havingfrom corner portions lower than the central portion of the visor wherebymoisture collected and conducted by the channel beam at the lower edgeof the crown passes onto said downwardly directed visor where it drainsoff at said corner portions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

